


I Do (epilogue)

by Madame_Tentacle



Series: A Patient Wolf [2]
Category: Outlast (Video Games)
Genre: Epilogue, F/F, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, but I still wanted to post it, this is hard to tag since everyone is unnamed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23585266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madame_Tentacle/pseuds/Madame_Tentacle
Summary: You've escaped the Groom, but find struggle in the newfound normalcy.
Series: A Patient Wolf [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1697731
Comments: 8
Kudos: 23





	I Do (epilogue)

**Author's Note:**

> Written from an anon ask on tumblr and figured it was worth posting here as a little send off for the "A Patient Wolf" reader!

You returned the wedding dress.

The one time you wore it since you returned, you broke down in tears.

Wearing white brings back too many memories. Memories of the wedding Eddie promised you. Even though it never came, you have nightmares of it when you fall asleep.

You're dolled up with too much make-up and pincurls. It feels as if you'd been sewn into the creampuff wedding dress Eddie picked out for you. Eddie is waiting for you at the end of the aisle, dapper and handsome as ever in his freshly pressed suit. There's no father to give you away. Friends and family who should be in the pews are replaced with faceless mannequins. They have no eyes, but they turn to you as you walk down the aisle. Your feet move of their own accord, even as your mind screams no, until you're at Eddie's side, the perfect accessory for his arm.

The priest drones on and on of being together in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, til death do you part. You try to move your feet, but they're chained to the floor. No one seems to notice and your throat is too dry to scream.

Eddie places the dahlia wedding ring on your finger and recites his vows without so much as a waver in his voice. He says, "I do," and you always wake up before you can say, "I don't."

You've lost count of how many times you've woken up crying from that dream. Sometimes you don't even realize it until your fiancee wipes tears from your eyes. She's always there to hold you tight when you wake up. She reminds you that Eddie is locked away where he can't find you, that you'll never have to see him again, that she'll always be there to hold you until you fall asleep. Her embrace always wards off nightmares.

Sometimes you feel like a burden, but she's never once complained of your late night breakdowns, your fidgetiness in public, not even when you called off the wedding.

In fact, she almost seems relieved as she drives you to the local courthouse, holding your hand. She's humming along with the radio as you lean back in the passenger seat. You always told her she should have gone into singing. She usually laughs and says you flatter her too much, but you mean it. No one's voice soothes you like hers.

Your heart skips a beat when she parks the car. Neither of you told anyone you were coming. There's no need to wait for anyone before entering. You had set the date a week ago and arrived 15 minutes early. You wait together on an uncomfortable wooden bench when your fiancee speaks.

"You know...now that we're here, I'm kind of relieved you called off the wedding."

"What?" You're dumbfounded. "But you were so excited for the ceremony."

"I was, but I don't know...I'm just as excited for, well, now. Before it was all so stressful and even on our budget, it was really starting to add up. Now we can use that money for a longer honeymoon."

You smile. Initially you could only afford a weekend getaway. Now you have a whole week planned out for a cross country road trip, just the two of you. You plan to stop at everything from the world's biggest yarn ball to historical monuments. It's the first time in a while that you're truly excited for something. So excited that you had insisted on having your bags ready in the trunk so you could take off right after the ceremony which the official promised would take no more than ten minutes.

Only ten minutes to have a wife of your own.

Your heart skips a beat as the official calls your name. You look to your fiancee and chuckle. "I guess this is it."

"Then let's go!" She tugs at your hand and leads the way. You've never seen her glow so radiantly.

The official leads you to a small room, the cheapest option available. While it's neat and well-maintained, it's bare in decoration. There's a few chairs for guests, a white carpet and a small podium for the official, but little else. Nonetheless, your fiancee is smiling brightly as she takes your hands. 

You barely hear the official as he goes through the rites. You're too busy staring into your fiancee's eyes. Sometimes you wonder if she's only so accommodating out of pity for your plight, that she's just too kind to express disappointment in your strange demands, that she would come to resent you for the sleepless nights. Now you wonder why you ever doubted. 

She mouths something and you sigh contentedly. Even in her favorite comfy jeans and worn blazer, you can't imagine a more beautiful woman to call your wife, but her brow furrows in concern.

"Hon?"

You snap out of it. "Huh? What?"

The official clears his throat. "I said, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

You laugh. This time you say, "I do," and kiss your bride.


End file.
